The Clippers have the best point guard, the best floor general in the game in Chris Paul. For the past couple seasons they had the up-and-coming Eric Bledsoe behind him.
Which meant Chauncey Billups was at the two spot.
He was the good teammate and did it, but it was not his preference. Throw in the Achilles injury that limited him to 22 games last season and things just didn’t feel like they got in a groove for Billups.
Now he is back in Detroit as a Piston, a place he feels comfortable, and he told Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports he’s excited to play the point again.“I’m 36 and I’m going to be 37 when the season starts,” Billups said. “I’ve accomplished everything I tried to accomplish in basketball. So I don’t have anything to prove. But to my own personal self, I want to end my career playing my position and just doing what I do….
“I definitely wasn’t disappointed,” Billups said. “I didn’t want to be a two-guard anyway. I did it there because it’s a way for me to get on the floor. You are playing behind the best point guard in the league in Chris. I never saw myself as a shooting guard. I never wanted to play it.”
Just acquired Brandon Jennings will be the starting point for the Pistons, and they have Will Bynum back to also take up some minutes as a scorer off the bench. Billups will fit in that mix and get a healthy share of minutes at the point.
Where he may most be needed is in the locker room — the Pistons added the personalities of Josh Smith and Jennings to the mix. Two guys with a lot of confidence (maybe too much at times) who want to take a lot of shots and not always good ones. How the shot distribution and flow of the offense works out could lead to some friction, having a veteran like Billups in the locker room can help diffuse some of that.
Then after this season he can step up into the front office.
